


happy birthday anthony!

by dancedanceresolution



Category: The Office (US)
Genre: M/M, not for all you guys here on ao3, so kindly just don't read this please and thank you, this is a fic i wrote for my friend for her birthday
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2020-03-06 03:05:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 7,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18842350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancedanceresolution/pseuds/dancedanceresolution
Summary: MATTIE DONT YOU DARE TELL HIM ABOUT THIS YET IM GIVING IT TO HIM ON SATURDAY AT THE PARTYALSO ITS NOT DONE YET AND PROBABLY WONT BE BY THE PARTY OOPShappy birthday anthony!(to all the other humans reading this - this fic is a birthday present for my friend and not anything quality that you actually want to read)(so please don't read this thanks)





	1. characters, context, and a closet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anthony <3](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=anthony+%26lt%3B3).



> hi mattie please stop judging me  
> and please don't tell him yet bc im cheap and this is the main part of her birthday present so i want it to be a surprise on saturday
> 
> and to the party humans who are reading this on saturday - if ya had an ao3 then you would've known about this. so shame on you. also subscribe and leave kudos bc im desperate gracias.

Cast: (please note that none of the characters have aged or found new jobs or anything) (also Toby isn’t in this because he’s the Scranton Strangler and we don't want that negativity in our life)

Michael Gary Scott

| 

Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch  
  
---|---  
  
James “Jim” Duncan Halpert

| 

Salesman, Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch, husband of Pam  
  
Pamela “Pam” Morgan Beasley Halpert

| 

Office Administrator, Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch, wife of Jim  
  
Phillip “Joey” Joseph Halpert

| 

son of Jim and Pam Halpert, age 15, CeCe’s twin  
  
Cecilia “CeCe” Marie Halpert

| 

daughter of Jim and Pam Halpert, age 15, Joey’s twin, Phillip’s close friend

note: she’s not emo in this story, sorry  
  
Dwight Kurt Schrute

| 

Assistant Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch  
  
Angela Martin Schrute

| 

Head Accountant, Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch  
  
Phillip Schrute

| 

son of Dwight and Angela Schrute, age 15, CeCe’s close friend  
  
Ryan Howard

| 

Temp, Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch  
  
Oscar Martinez

| 

Accountant, Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch  
  
Kevin Jaye Malone

| 

Accountant, Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch  
  
 

 

 

“Oh my god.” Jim slammed the door closed. _Oh my god_ , he mouthed again. His mouth formed a prim line as he speedily walked to find Pam.

“Pam?” he said quietly.

“Mhm?”

“We have a slight situation.”

“Mhm?” she said, slowly sipping her cup of hot tea.

“CeCe is in Ryan’s closet kissing Phillip Schrute.”

“Okay,” Pam said, distracted by her computer screen. A second passed before realization dawned on her. “What?!” she whisper-yelled, a shocked look on her face. A few drops of tea spilled out of the mug as she slammed it onto the table. “Oh my god!”

“How do we deal with this?”

“Oh my god, my fifteen-year-old daughter is making out with _Dwight_ _and Angela’s_ _son_.” She paused, taking in the news. “Was it like a make out or just a peck or a deep kiss or a French kiss or?”

“I don’t know,” said Jim, visibly uncomfortable.

“Oh my god,” Pam whispered again.

“Should I go and like, try to stop them, or?”

“I don’t know,” Pam breathed.

“We can’t just… let them…” Jim said with a look of disgust on his face.

Pam breathed for a second. “Maybe we should just leave them? They’re both fifteen now, and I’m sure that—”

“Pam. This is _Dwight’s son_.”

“Yeah, and Dwight’s okay.”

Jim gave her a look.

“Okay, well, your brothers are jerks but you’re okay. Maybe the… Dwight-ness skipped a generation?”

Jim stood there with a dazed look, and Pam just shook her head. “ _Oh my god…”_


	2. (im doing this thing where the first phrase of the new chapter is the last phrase of the last chapter which is why this is all kinda weird sorry)

“Oh my god,” Phillip gasped. In that short second, he thought back to everything that had led up to this moment. He remembered back to when he and CeCe had first broken apart. “Yeah, I’m definitely gay,” Phillip had said.

“Well, at least now you know. Happy to help,” CeCe had replied. When Phillip had first approached her, she was unsure what his game was. They’d been friends for a while, and out of all the boys she expected to try to hit on her, Phillip was the last in line. But Phillip was a kind and sensitive person, and once CeCe finally got him to admit the real reason he wanted to kiss her, she was happy to oblige. After all, she had suspected that Phillip was, well, not straight, for a while now, so she believed that his motivations were as honest as this type of thing could be. He had explained to her that he’d kissed three girls in the past, but he wanted to make sure one last time. Out of all the girls he knew, he was closest to CeCe, and he knew that she was the most objectively attractive out of all the girls he’d kissed. But her lips touching his felt meaningless. And all of the prior kisses had felt meaningless, even when he kissed the girl he’d convinced himself he’d had a crush on for years.

He had all the evidence he needed. The feelings he’d had about boys, the lack of feelings about girls…

After they had kissed, two teenagers hugged quickly, and a tear had appeared in Phillip’s left eye.

“I know it’s hard, but you can do this,” CeCe had whispered to him as they separated from each other’s embrace.

“Can I kiss you one more time? Just to make sure?”

“Kissing a girl isn’t going to turn you straight,” CeCe had said with a disapproving look. “But I guess if you want to…” (She decided she could use the practice anyways.) She began to lean toward Phillip, their lips about to touch, when a burst of light invaded the dimly lit closet. Phillip and CeCe quickly pulled away from each other and turned to find Jim standing behind the door, a look of pure shock on his face.

Next thing they knew, the door had been slammed shut, and once again they were alone in the closet.

“Oh my god,” Phillip had gasped.


	3. i hate titling chapters

“ _Oh my god_ …” Pam whispered for the thousandth time. “Do you think we should tell Dwight and Angela?”

“I don’t know,” Pam responded. “I mean, they’re kids, and as long as they’re not…” Pam shuddered. She took a moment to collect her thoughts. They were only an hour in to Take Your Child to Work Day and something had gone terribly wrong. Granted, she _had_ been expecting something to go terribly wrong this quickly, but she assumed it would be Michael related and not that _her daughter was kissing Dwight and Angela’s son._

“Okay, the plan is that we are not going to let CeCe and Phillip be alone together anymore, and I will talk to CeCe at some point today to figure this all out. Sound good?”

Jim nodded, a dazed look still on his face. _“My daughter and Dwight’s son…”_

Pam spoke one last time, affirming their plan. “So, we’re not going to tell his parents.”

 

 


	4. 70% of america tolerates you

“Remember, I’m not going to tell my parents. So when you’re around them, please act like you think I’m straight.”   
“I don’t mean to pressure you or anything; I’m just curious: why won’t you come out to them?”   
“I just can’t. I mean, they bring me to church every Sunday, and just last week the pastor said that gay marriage is just as bad as abortion.”   
“Ouch. Are your parents that glued to the pastor, or—”   
“Can we, just, not talk about this?”   
CeCe nodded and pulled Phillip in for a tight hug. She felt his skinny body shake slightly, and soon enough a tear landed on her shoulder.   
“Phillip, I will always love you,” she said seriously. Then, with the hint of a joke in her voice, she added, “and like 70% of America tolerates you so—”   
“Shut up,” he whispered, grinning through the tears.


	5. michael is the std (not sure if this joke will even make sense in context oops)

“Shut up!” Michael said, elated. “Shut up!” he said louder this time. He ran into the break room where Kevin and Oscar sat eating a snack together.

“You are welcome,” he said regally.

“What are we thanking you for, Michael?” Oscar replied tiredly.

“Creating yet another star-crossed couple. My third from this office, actually.”

“Ignoring your concerning use of that metaphor, which I’m praying is a mistake…” He sighed and continued unenthusiastically, “Who’s dating now, Michael?” Oscar was half expecting him to be making up some random pairing.

“Phillip and CeCe!” Michael whispered excitedly.

“No, Michael, they’re kids, and you can’t—”

“No Oscar, this is real!” he said defensively. His giddy tone returned as he continued, “I was walking by Pam and Jim’s desks and overheard them say that Jim walked in on CeCe and Phillip kissing in Ryan’s closet. Ah! I better go tell Ryan!” He began to walk out of the room excitedly as he yelled, “Ryan?!”

“Those poor children…” Oscar said once Michael had left. “They’ve got a huge STD on their hands now.”

“What is it? The STD?” Kevin asked, confused.

“Michael.”

 


	6. all of these chapters are only two words long

CeCe walked out the door first, exiting without turning back as if she had a legitimate reason to be exiting (other than the fact that she had just been kissing Phillip in there). That was the key to not getting caught—no one’s going to suspect anything if you don’t look suspicious, and the best way to do that was to look like your movement had a confident purpose.

Phillip followed five minutes later, once his face was no longer red and his eyes no longer looked as if they’d been crying. His nervous, short steps were much less convincing than CeCe’s.

CeCe saw her twin brother Joey sitting in the break room. He was on his phone, snacking on a bag of chips, so she decided to join him. She inserted a few quarters, pulled her pretzels out of the vending machine, and sat across from Joey. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he grunted in response.

She pulled out her own phone and earbuds before drowning herself in _Parks and Rec_.

Phillip saw the pair. He wanted to talk to CeCe, but didn’t want to raise suspicions or anything, especially after her dad saw them kissing. Sure, CeCe had assured him that Mr. Halpert would only tell Mrs. Halpert and not anyone else—that’s just the type of people they were—but he was still uneasily. At least he was caught kissing CeCe and not Joey. (He blushed a little at the thought of kissing Joey, but being a closeted fifteen-year-old gay boy, you learn to get over crushes real fast.)

He instead went to the kitchen, sitting at the table in there, listening to music on his phone while reading a Christian theology he received from his mother as a birthday present. Phillip didn’t think to see the irony, and he also didn’t think to look up and see Pam getting up from her desk and walking to the break room to find CeCe.


	7. mrs. m*****t would be proud of my slight criticism of teenage phone use

“CeCe,” Pam said calmly as she entered the break room. Her daughter couldn’t hear her, _why do they always have to be listening to something on their phone_ , so she walked over and gently tapped CeCe on the shoulder.

“CeCe,” she repeated. “It’s almost lunch. Do you want to go out and eat with me? Panera maybe?”

“I’ll go if we get one of those chocolate croissants again,” Joey said, looking up from his phone.

“No, Joey, I need to talk with CeCe about something. But I’ll take you guys out for dessert later this week.”

“Ooooh, CeCe, what’d you do that mom wants to talk to you alooooooone?”

“Shut up Joey. And Mom? No thanks on the Panera; I just ate a bag of pretzels.” She held up the nearly empty bag as proof.

Pam gave CeCe a knowing look, and soon the women were starting to leave the break room.

“Is Dad coming too?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because this is a girl thing. I know it’s not your first kiss or anything, but it’s still a mother-daughter thing.”

CeCe stayed quiet for a moment, considering what to respond. She thought back to a few months ago when she told her mom about Henry, her first kiss. Her mother was kind and calm and the whole experience wasn’t anything too bad. As she walked out of the office, she prayed that this time would be the same.

 


	8. "straight" a student

 

“I’ll have the same thing, please,” Pam said to the cashier. Soon enough, she was carrying her and CeCe’s trays to the booth where CeCe sat texting.

“Who are you texting?”

“You’re so invasive.”

Pam gave CeCe that look. CeCe sighed before saying, “Joey.”

“No you’re not; you wouldn’t voluntarily talk to your brother,” Pam said as she leaned over and grabbed CeCe’s phone. Surprised at her mild mother’s out-of-character lurch, CeCe didn’t react in time to stop her mom from snatching her phone.

She read over the messages, and a concerned look grew on her face. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

Pam read a few texts aloud. “ ‘What is she saying?’ ‘We haven’t started talking yet.’ ‘Please don’t tell her.’ ‘I won’t.’ ” Pam paused before saying, “Tell me what?”

“He—he just meant admitting that we were kissing.”

“He wanted you to lie to me and say that your dad just made the story up?”

“Or misread the situation.”

“Phillip is a straight A student; he’s smart enough to know that that’s a terrible excuse.”

“I don’t know, we’re dumb teenagers. Can I just eat now?”

Pam stayed silent and gave CeCe back her phone. They ate without talking or even looking at each other until Pam said, “I don’t know how to approach this, CeCe. You’re mature and I respect that you have your own life, but I’m still your mom and there still need to be some boundaries. First of all, you just can’t kiss in an inappropriate setting like that. What if someone other than your dad had opened that closet door? What if my boss decided to fire me for allowing you to kiss another person in the office? You just can’t do stuff like that. And second, what happened to Henry? If you’re still together with him, then you can’t just go and kiss Philip.”

“The thing with Phillip was different. And me and Henry aren’t together either.”

“What happened?”

“We were never together, Mom, it was just that we were playing truth or dare, and this one girl knew that he liked me, so she dared me to kiss him. And that was the end of that.”

“Well, why is Phillip different?”

“It just is.” CeCe took a huge bite of her food so she had an excuse to not respond to whatever question her mother followed with.

Pam simply gave her a disappointed look, knowing that her daughter was lying.

 


	9. dont hate angela she's trying hon

“Lies!” Angela said loudly. She took a second to calm down before continuing, “Phillip, I just want to know if it’s true. You’re telling me it’s not, but…”

Dwight added on to her thought. “I’m proud of you for choosing a woman to seduce—”

“D _wight_!” his wife exclaimed, disgusted.

“—but does it have to be the offspring of my greatest enemy?”

And in the volume and the stress and the buzzing of the break room’s fluorescent lights, Phillip cracked. He blurted it out: “I’m gay.”

“What?” Angela said, sounding confused and concerned.

“You heard, Mom,” Phillip whispered as he began to cry. It wasn’t even said sassily; he just stated the fact as it chipped away at the inside of him. He began muttering about how he should never have been so impulsive. What had he been thinking? Being yelled at for kissing CeCe—a girl—was far preferable to being yelled at for, well, what he had just confessed to.

It took a second for the reality of it all to dawn on him. He just came out to his parents. He pondered—well, stressed about is a better word—this fact as he watched his Mom speed out of the break room. Tears blurred his vision, so he couldn’t make out just how mad she was. His dad hesitated, conflicted between the choices of sticking by his son or sticking by his wife, until Phillip saw him solemnly exit the room.

Joey heard the commotion and wanted to investigate, so a moment after Dwight left, Joey entered. At first, he didn’t see Phillip with his head on the table, crying. But once he did, he simply sat down next to his twin’s friend. A moment later, he decided to lay his hand on top of Phillip’s shoulder for a few seconds, as a way to offer support. He didn’t notice that this made Phillip tense up and cry even harder.

 


	10. on a scale of 1 to 10 how annoying is it that im posting this in tiny separate chapters

 

Phillip could tell that his mother had been crying. Hard.

“Please, come home with us. I don’t want to do or say things that I will regret, so just… let’s just not talk until we’ve calmed down,” she finished as her voice became squeaky from her tears. Dwight stood behind her, staring at his feet.

Phillip wanted CeCe right now. He felt himself longing for her support, but the entire Halpert family had already left. And now he was alone with his family.

The car ride home was completely silent.

Dinner that night was completely silent too, save some sniffles from Angela before she excused herself, not wanting Phillip to see her tears.

 


	11. 30% of this is me describing a table

 

When Phillip woke up the next morning, he felt as if thick tension halted everything on the farm. The animals were silent, his father wasn’t yelling at Mose, and the familiar hum of the plows, mills, and slaughter house was absent.

He glanced at his phone—6:02 a.m. After fifteen years living on a farm, waking up this early was just instinct.

He padded downstairs and entered the kitchen where he saw his mother sitting at the table. Phillip remembered back to when he and his father had built the piece. Phillip had just turned ten, and as they sat in front of the fireplace that evening, both of his parents handed him a gift. Angela had handed him a large box filled with a quilt she had sewn for him and a few Christian children’s books. Dwight had handed him a piece of paper, simply reading: “We will be building a new kitchen table.” The next day, Dwight took Phillip to a store two hours away, and Phillip chose the cherry wood he wanted for the table. The day after that, they took a trip to the hardware store to pick a stain. And every day for the next month, Phillip and his father worked on that table. When it was finally finished, he and Dwight carried it into the house themselves, and to celebrate, Angela cooked an elaborate dinner. “The food tastes even better since it was served on your wonderful table,” she told Phillip. He smiled widely the whole rest of the meal, proud of his handiwork, and overflowing with love for his parents.

Now, Angela sat alone at that table. There was no warm sunset in the window behind her, no crackling fire in the next room, no comforting meal waiting to be consumed. It was just his mother, sitting at the table, staring down into the wood. Phillip had found himself doing the same in the past, examining at the intricate grain while ruminating. He assumed his mother was doing the same. He gently opened the refrigerator, hoping to go unnoticed. He poured himself a glass of goatmilk and cut a slice of bread from the home-baked loaf that sat on the counter. Phillip didn’t notice Angela’s teary-eyed gaze rise to him, and by the time he finished getting his breakfast, she had returned to her position of intently staring at the table. Phillip picked up his plate and glass and walked out of the house, sitting down on the front porch swing to think in solitude.

He saw his father and Mose out in the beet field, harvesting the year’s first crop. They were laughing with each other as they pulled the red-ish-purple bulbs from the ground. The first crop was always the smallest, a trial run for the rest of the season. With less than an acre planted, the job was small enough to do by hand, for the sake of tradition. As he gazed out, Phillip thought to himself, _I should be out there, too. I always help with the harvest._ Beets were the Schrute’s main crop; they had a few acres of them. The revenue from the beet sales was a small supplement to Dwight and Angela’s salaries as Dunder Mifflin employees. The family also grew some other produce and raised some livestock, but not enough to feed more than themselves. They rarely went to the grocery store, as the farm had nearly everything they needed. Most of the shopping they did was for manufactured things, like computers and plastic containers, and yarns and fabrics for Angela to craft into clothes, blankets, and quilts. And the lifestyle suited them well. Everyone was content right where they were, even Phillip, who looked forward to running the farm himself one day and becoming an expert carpenter. In fact, he and his father had just started building an addition to the already spacious barn that housed the Schrute’s many woodworking tools, machines, and supplies.

But were they still content? Was Angela still content now that she had a gay son? _Gay_. When she whispered it to herself last night, trying to come to terms with it, the word felt sticky and awkward on her tongue. And was Dwight still content, seeing his wife and son separated by that word, _gay_? And was Phillip still content? How could he be, with parents unable to form the syllables to speak with him?

They needed time, Phillip decided. All of them did. He just needed to figure how to survive in the meantime.


	12. chapter twelve

“CeCe, we’re going to Noodles and Company for lunch.”

CeCe looked up from her phone, meeting her mother’s eyes. “It’s a Saturday. I’m going over to Victoria’s house.”

“You can go to her house after you have lunch with me.” Pam opened the front door and motioned her hands. CeCe begrudgingly followed, settling into the passenger’s seat of the Halpert’s blue Subaru.

“You need to tell me what’s going on with Phillip.”

“First of all, stop being so nosy. I’m fifteen. And second of all, nothing _is_ going on with Phillip.”

“Last night when you were sleeping I took your phone—”

“ _What the heck!!”_

“—and read what Phillip sent you. I swear I didn’t read anything else; I have respect for your boundaries, but something about the situation with Phillip unsettled me. And I was right.”

CeCe grew silent. Her mom knew. Phillip had been frantically texting her all last night, describing exactly what he’d said and exactly how his parents had reacted.

“Right about what?” CeCe asked, hoping that she was overestimating how much her mom actually knew.

“Well, that feeling that I had that something was off, that this wasn’t just some teenage kiss—that was right.

“I’m just confused about why you two kissed at all,” she said as she slowed down, stopping at a red light. She looked her daughter in the eyes.

“How much do you know?” Cece asked.

“I know that he’s gay. And his parents know. And that they’re trying to come to terms with that, but they—well, mainly Angela—are struggling with it.”

The car accelerated once again, and Pam looked ahead at the road. CeCe felt less pressure now that she wasn’t under her mother’s gaze, so she carefully stated, “He explained to me that he thought he was gay, but he wanted to make sure. So, he asked if we could kiss, and we did. Afterwards, he admitted to himself aloud that he’s gay.”

“How did you react?”

“I told him that I support him and that I have his back.”

There were a few seconds of silence as Pam parked the car. The women exited the vehicle, walking into the establishment and ordering their lunches. They picked a table near the window and stared into the late-May afternoon as they ate their pasta in silence.

CeCe’s phoned let out a sharp _ding_ , and she glanced down at the screen. It was a message from Phillip. _I think everyone just needs time._ Followed by, _I’m gonna ask to spend the night at a friend’s house tonight._

 _Come to my house_ CeCe responded.

_Your parents think we’re together. That’s not gonna work._

CeCe considered her next words. _Don’t freak out, but my mom read your texts while I was sleeping. She understands the whole situation. She’ll be cool with you spending the night._

“How do you know he’s not just claiming to be gay so he can kiss you?” Pam asked CeCe with a look of genuine care.

“I’m his best friend, Mom. I’ve known him long enough to suspect it, and I believe him. I mean, you saw his texts. Would he really be making all of it up, especially with everything going on with his parents…” CeCe let the thought hang in the air for a few minutes before she continued speaking. “Actually, he texted me just now. The family needs space, so I invited him over for the night. He can sleep in Joey’s room, and we’ll keep all the bedroom doors open and stuff.”

“Okay. When does he want to be picked up?”

“Wait, it was that easy?”

“I feel for the kid. I saw how Angela reacted when another accountant, Oscar, came out. I can’t imagine how she would feel if her own son came out. Space is a good idea.”

CeCe felt grateful for her understanding mother. She took a deep breath and nodded, holding eye contact with Pam before texting Phillip, _We’re heading to the farm now to pick you up. Have an overnight bag ready._

“I told him that we’re picking him up now.”

“Okay. We’ll call your father and brother on the way to explain the situation.”

“Alright, but don’t tell anyone else. I don’t want to out Phillip or anything.”

Pam nodded in response as they exited the restaurant.

 


	13. "the kid's in a crisis"

 

“Hey,” Jim said, answering Pam’s call.

“Hey, hon. CeCe and I are driving to Schrute farms right now to pick up Phillip. He’ll be spending the night.”

“Okay, uh, Pam? Am I on speaker phone?”

“Yes.”

“Can I not be?”

“Dad?” CeCe interjected.

“Heyyyyy, CeCe,” Jim responded awkwardly.

“Phillip’s gay,” she said matter-of-factly. “We were kissing because he wanted to make sure that he’s gay. He is. He accidentally came out to his parents, so there’s some tension at his house. So, he’ll be spending the night with us.”

“Pam?”

“Mhm?”

“Can you take me off speaker phone?”

“Give me a sec.” She disconnected the car Bluetooth despite CeCe’s protests.

“Is this true?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“What if he’s making this up to, not take advantage of her, but like, you know what I mean?”

“I asked her the same question, but she believes he isn’t. And I believe it too.”

“But Pam—”

“I looked at his texts to her. The kid’s in a crisis.” There was a pause before Pam continued, “We won’t allow any alone time at all. All doors will be open always, and he’ll spend the night in Joey’s room. Sound good?”

Jim sighed. “I trust you.”

“Thank you. We’ll be home soon. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Pam hung up the phone and placed it in the car’s cup holders. She had a serene look on her face as the car drove further north, towards the rural area of town.

 


	14. a tense hug goodbye

 

The rural area of town stared back at Phillip. His blue eyes stung from staring at the afternoon sun, and blotches dotted his vision as he walked into his house. “Mom?”

Angela stood at the counter, some cleaner in her hand. She made eye contact with her son.

“May I please spend the night at Cecilia Halpert’s house? Her parents will be home and I’ll sleep in the living room, away from Cecilia and her brother.” Well, at least he assumed that’s where he’d be sleeping.

Angela looked down at her hands. “Yes,” she stated quietly. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“Mrs. Halpert and Cecilia will be here in a few minutes to pick me up.”

Angela nodded in acknowledgment as Phillip proceeded upstairs. Once he arrived in his bedroom, he laid a set of pajamas and some new clothes for tomorrow on his bed. He retrieved his Schrute Farms duffel bag from his closet and slipped the clothes into the canvas sack, along with his toothbrush, hairbrush, and deodorant. He zipped up the bag and dragged it down the stairs. He gave his mother a quick, tense hug goodbye and walked to the end of the dusty driveway. His father and Mose had moved to the back yard where they were trying to repair a tractor, and Phillip didn’t want to have to explain the sleepover situation to his dad. So, Phillip walked to the road without looking back. He trusted that his mother would do the explaining.

 


	15. julia is the rat and sophia is the aardvark of the relationship

 

“Are you gonna do the explaining? To Joey, I mean?”

Pam paused a moment before carefully responding, “Yes. But in the meantime, can you text him to let him know that Phillip is coming over? Don’t say anything more.”

CeCe nodded as she opened the Messages app and began to type out a quick message.

Soon enough, the Halperts arrived at a dusty road leading up to an aged farmhouse. Phillip stood at the end of the road, squinting at his phone. He looked up as the car stopped next to him, and as he hopped into the back seat, he let out a small sigh of relief. He shrugged the strap of his duffel bag off his shoulder, the bag landing on the seat next to him. He proceeded to timidly greet Mrs. Halpert, followed by a “Thank you so much for, uh, well, this.”

Pam tilted her gaze so she could see Phillip in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes met Phillip’s, and she simply nodded and smiled at the shy boy. She had a look of pity on her face, and Phillip’s countenance appeared shameful. To this she responded, “Don’t worry, Phillip. You have nothing to be scared of or ashamed of. Just take a break for now.”

Phillip nodded at the woman and pulled out his phone. He plugged his earbuds into his phone and drowned himself in his music. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. He leaned his head against the window and let himself drift off.

“Joey texted back,” he heard CeCe say. “He’s asking why you’re letting a boy spend the night.”

Phillip kept his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. He knew that the next logical move would be to ask _him_ what to send, and frankly, he had no idea.

Pam looked at the sleeping boy behind her. “What would Phillip want you to tell Joey?”

CeCe was silent for a moment as she pondered her response. “We could tell him that Phillip needs a place to stay and hope he gets the message that he shouldn’t continue to ask questions.”

“You think he’s mature enough to know to stop asking questions?”

Phillip felt his stomach swimming.

CeCe gave her mother an apprehensive look. “It’s worth a try, right?”

Pam nodded, and soon enough the text was sent.

A tense few moments passed before CeCe announced that she saw the read receipt. Followed by a response – “k.” Everyone in the car breathed a sigh of relief.

 


	16. teryaki chicken is what my other friend julia's mom would make whenever i spent the night back in third and fourth grade

 

The car hit a pot hole, and Phillip thought that the subsequent jolt was significant enough to wake someone. Using it as an excuse, he pretended to stir before opening his eyes and sitting upright again.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later, when the car pulled into the driveway, that Pam realized that Phillip had awaken. She gave the lanky, nervous boy an encouraging smile before exiting the car.

CeCe jiggled some keys into the lock, and soon enough, Phillip was in the Halpert house. He’d been here a few times over the years for CeCe’s birthday parties, but there were always other people. It was never just him; the focus was never on _just him_.

Phillip felt vulnerable as he walked into the kitchen. He sensed Mr. Halpert’s eyes on him as he stood awkwardly next to Mrs. Halpert.

She began to move behind him, walking towards the kitchen sink. “For dinner tonight, we’ve got teriyaki chicken. Costco special,” she smiled. “Anything else you want, Phillip?”

“The chicken sounds great, Mrs. Halpert.”

“Alright then. Dinner will be in half an hour. In the meantime, CeCe, why don’t you take Phillip up to your room? Just leave the door open, please.”

CeCe rolled her eyes at her mother as she and Phillip began to walk upstairs. Phillip lingered near the landing for a second. “Mrs. Halpert, you have a lot of baking gear.” It was the first time he had spoken without being prompted since the Halperts had picked him up.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “My mother in law died a year ago, and we couldn’t bring ourselves to throw away her baking supplies. Why, do you bake?”

“Yeah.”

The two teens began to walk upstairs, CeCe buried in her phone and Phillip timidly scanning over the rest of the house.

They arrived in CeCe’s room, stepping over piles of clothes and assorted junk until they reached a clean spot in the corner, where they both sat on the floor.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Phillip shook his head.

“According to every cliché movie, tv, book, and fic I’ve ever read, talking about it to a friend helps.”

Phillip began to shake his head again, saying, “I’m good. It’s all still sort of surreal.”

CeCe nodded in response. “Imma go get Joey to clean up his room.”

Phillip gave her a confused look.

“You’re sleeping in his room tonight, and it’s somehow in even worse shape than mine.”

Phillip just nodded, still in a daze from yesterday.

 


	17. phillip bakes because i'm desperate for content and okay at writing baking-related scenes

 

“What’s for dessert?” Joey mumbled, his mouth full of food.

“You’re still shoveling your dinner into your mouth; why are you already worrying about dessert?”

Joey and Phillip accidentally made eye contact, and both boys blushed.

Phillip looked away. “I could bake something,” he said timidly. “I’ll help clean up and everything. Oh wait, it’s your mother’s supplies, I’m sorry, I forgot, I shouldn’t’ve asked—”

Jim interrupted the visibly upset Phillip. “It’s fine; we’d love if you baked something. Whatever you want. Just don’t burn the house down!” he joked.

Phillip’s thought spiral started to slow down as he nodded at Mr. Halpert.

After dinner was finished, Phillip helped clean up. Within a few minutes, the table was clean and the Halpert family dispersed throughout the house. Phillip was the only one left in the kitchen.

He pulled up a brand-new recipe that he had saved on Pinterest a week earlier. Soon, all of the ingredients sat on the counter, along with a nearly vintage Kitchen Aid stand mixer and other assorted baking supplies.

The rhythm of it all calmed Joey. The pacing and the measuring and the _creating_ —and soon enough, two pans filled with from-scratch chocolate cake batter sat contently in the oven.

Half an hour later, the cakes were sliced in half and cooling on the counter as Phillip put large chunks of strawberries into the buttercream resting in the stand mixer. He turned on the mixer for one last gentle cycle before turning it off and scooping it onto the now cooled layers of cake. He stacked the layers and spread on the plain buttercream that he had set aside earlier; now, he smoothed it out on the side of the round cake with a stainless-steel offset spatula (bless Mr. Halpert’s mother) and set to piping colored flowers and leaves all over the cake.

Pam came to check on Phillip, and gasped when she saw his exquisite work. “Phillip!”

“Chocolate with strawberry buttercream. Four layers. The flowers aren’t my best work—the tips you have are amazing but it took me a few tries to figure out how to work some of the fancier ones I’ve never tried before and…” Phillip ran out of breath and was left staring at his work. He did a pretty fricking great job.

“Take pictures before we cut it!” Pam paused a moment, giving the boy a warm smile. The tender moment was ended when she began to yell, “Jim! Joey! CeCe! Dessert’s ready!”

Within a minute, the whole Halpert family was in the kitchen, gathered around Phillip’s cake.

“No wonder you were in here for two hours. This is seriously, like, professional level, Phillip,” CeCe commented.

The rest of the family chimed in with agreement, complementing Phillip on the cake.

“How long have you been baking?”

“I’ve baked with my mother ever since I could remember.”

“Her brownies _are_ delicious…” Pam mused.

Phillip felt suddenly cold at the mention of his mother. This was one of the few times he had ever baked without her.

“Can we eat it now?” Joey said impatiently.

Everyone chimed in agreement, and soon enough Phillip was neatly cutting his cake.

“You need to go on, like, the Great British Bake Off or something,” CeCe said dramatically, her mouth now full of cake.

 


	18. you thought i abandoned this huh well i did too but here we are now

“God is a woman and her name is Buffy Driscoll,” CeCe said as the screen went black.

Phillip laughed half way through his yawn.

The _DisneyNow_ extension on the TV began the countdown to playing the next episode.

“You ready to go to bed now? Or we could watch another?”

“Yeah,” Phillip said. “For bed, I mean. Sorry, I know it’s only ten thirty, but I’m used to going to bed early because I have to wake up at early for the farm and all.”

“I totally get it, dude. Here,” she said, hoisting herself up from the couch, “lemme show you into Joey’s room. He probably didn’t clean his room, so I’ll pray for your soul.”

“Cool,” Joey said, smiling, as both friends walked up the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it may be like 2 words, but it's something


	19. oops i totally forgot that i was doing that thing where the last line of last chapter was the first of this one but will i go back and change it? maybe but probably not

“This is where I have to abandon you; I _will not_ step foot into that heathen’s room,” CeCe deadpanned. “Try to ignore the mess. Text me if you want to go back down to watch TV or something. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to escape him.”

Phillip smiled and gave CeCe a quick hug before gingerly knocking on Joey’s door. CeCe gave him a dramatic goodbye-wave, distracting Phillip from seeing Joey open the door slightly to let him in.

“Hi,” Joey had to say.

“Oh, sorry,” Phillip responded, sounding more flustered than he should have. “Thank you so much for letting me stay in your room,” he said, recovering.

“No problem. The bathroom’s that door across the hall if you wanna brush your teeth and change or whatever.” Joey pointed across the hall, and Phillip noticed that he was pointedly not looking at him. He was smiling a bit, almost as if Phillip had caught him in a light laugh. And, was that a slight blush?

Cool cool cool, not the time to overanalyze that (or to overanalyze how Joey looked now, with his hair all tousled).

As he began to walk towards the bathroom, Phillip felt Joey’s eyes linger on him. A surreptitious glance back as he opened the bathroom door confirmed the feeling.

Oof. Okay. That could mean a lot of things.

Frick, that could mean way too many things.

 


	20. you thought i had abandoned this well ha ha yup i did too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rip

The boys were playing a game of “What’s the Weirdest Thing You Can Find on WikiHow,” which Joey had accidentally made up after Googling “how to blow up an air mattress” only a few moments earlier. Phillip was half-sitting-half-laying on the now (semi-)inflated air mattress while Joey sat on the floor next to him.

Phillip was currently in the lead with “How to Get a Man to Leave His Wife for You,” though Joey insisted that his discovery of a whole category called “Hamster Reproductive Health” was just as good.

“‘How to Stop Being in Love With a Man You’ll Never Meet.’ Way to call me out WikiHow,” Phillip joked, and for a moment as Joey burst into laughter, Phillip didn’t notice what he had said: a _man_. A _man_ he’d never meet.

“‘How to Live/Act as Sherlock Holmes,’” Joey countered. Phillip released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, his tension leaving him with that breath. He had just low-key mini-came out to Joey. And it went okay. Great, actually.

Phillip paused that train of thought and went back to the WikiHow game. “Oh god!” he said, resuming his hysterical laughter. “The slash makes it so much better and I honestly have no idea why!” The boys dissolved into laughter.

“No! No way! ‘How to Be Okay with Having a Communist Friend.’ Oh, but it gets better! The caption is ‘Worried you are beginning to hate one of your friends or family members because they have told you that they are communist?’”

Joey nearly fell over with laughter at that one, wheezing out, “There is nothing better than a communism joke…”

Phillip let himself fall backwards so he was now laying down on the air mattress. His diaphragm hurt from laughing so hard. He stared up at the ceiling of the dimly lit room, exhausted and gleeful.

And then, all of a sudden, Joey’s laughter died down. And before Phillip could sit up and go back to scrolling through WikiHow articles, he felt Joey’s hand move. Towards him.

Joey’s hand was touching his hand.

Intentionally.

He wasn’t trying to hold it or anything. His hand was just resting there. Next to Phillip’s. So close that their hands were touching.

Electricity. That’s the first thing Phillip felt. It felt like electricity that was animating every part of his being.

 “Do you mind my asking why you’re spending the night?” A pause. “I don’t mean it in like—”

“No. Of course. I get it,” Phillip responded. “Umm,” he said shakily, taking a deep breath. He had accidentally let the “man” thing slip before, and Joey had been okay with it. And the fact that Joey was, ya know, holding his hand. (Well, not holding. Touching. Touching could be platonic. Heck, even hand holding could be platonic.) But what about how Joey’s gaze had lingered on him earlier…

But what if that was all the more reason _not_ to tell Joey? If Joey really did have a crush on Phillip—oh lord, here he went getting his hopes up—would he be freaked out to learn Phillip’s fragile state?

Phillip felt his lungs expand, chest rising into the air. And then he released his air, chest sinking. “I—"


	21. hee hee this ends on a cliffhangerrrrrrr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is only 336 sorry but i (probably) will have another chapter up before saturday

Phillip paused. He gently slid his ring and pinky fingers from underneath Joey’s. He sat up straight, and Joey hesitantly copied the motion.

“I’m gay.”

He said it so fast he wasn’t even sure if the words came out of his mouth. He felt his breath quicken; his lungs felt shallow. He slouched even more and stared at the blue-gray carpet. “If you want me to sleep in the living room or CeCe’s room I totally get it and I can—”

“Phillip,” Joey said softly, interrupting Phillip’s panic.

A few seconds passed and Joey still hadn’t spoken. Well, maybe it was a few seconds. Maybe it was a decade. Maybe it was not even a full millisecond. But there was space--Phillip felt the space--so he looked up and met Joey’s eyes.

Tender.

Joey’s expression was tender. It was caring and gentle and Phillip felt like he could swim in those eyes—

“I’m bi,” Joey said, breathily laughing.

“Oh.”

“Oh,” Joey copied. His voice was deeper, more inquisitive, somehow even gentler than before. But there was something new in his voice too—hesitation.

Phillip felt the urge to tell him so, to ask why the hesitation was there. But he couldn’t do that. He wasn’t brave enough to say something like that.

It was Joey who spoke first, his words slicing the air’s tenseness. “So I’m guessing you came out to someone, it didn’t go ideally, and that’s why you’re spending the night?”

“Um,” Phillip responded, carefully considering his words, “that’s one way to put it yeah.”

“Your voice sounds nice when it has the touch of a smile on it. Cute. Like it did just now.”

Oh lord. Phillip was blushing. He was suddenly acutely aware of every molecule of his being, every nitrogen atom and every oxygen atom separating him and Joey. _Cute._ The word rang through his head.

“Can I,” Joey started. His voice was a mere whisper as he began to inch his hand towards Phillip’s.

Is it bad that Phillip’s fight or flight response immediately kicked in?


	22. posting this in ms berry's room during break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ive added a chapter count now.   
> next chapter is an epilogue and will be the last one rip sory

Phillip flinched. God, that had to be the worst reaction to someone trying to hold your hand ever recorded.

“I’m sorry,” Joey said. He withdrew his hand. “I—I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything. I guess what I was trying to say was…well, I like you.”

Phillip’s breath hitched.

Memories flooded his mind. Every time he had looked in the mirror and thought _You don’t look gay enough_ or _Your neck is so fat_ or _No one will ever have a crush on you._ Every time he was watching _The Good Place_ and thought to himself _Where’s_ my _Chidi_ as he lusted after William Jackson-Harper. Every time he had looked at a cute boy with the knowledge that said cute boy wasn’t even noticing his unremarkable presence.

And here he was. Here he was sitting criss-cross-applesauce next to a boy with the prettiest auburn hair and gray eyes he lost himself in and a smile that lit up the world.

And he liked him.

 _I’ll save the whole confronting-my-perception-of-my-self-worth thing for tomorrow_ he thought to himself as he tentatively moved his hand closer and closer to Joey’s.

The boys made eye contact as their fingers intertwined. And all Phillip could think to himself was _This feels right. Perfect, even._


End file.
